D iwali being one of my favourite festivals ,I go an extra mile in preparation for the same.
We had a Diwali get together out here with friends for the 3 consequtive year and with fun n vigour....
I love to learn one new sweet or savory for the occasion .... It really feels fresh with new successful trials... I chose it to be a Southindian Savory - Thatai... My last post being on Papdi's ,I had a smile thinking " One more recipe to the same clan but from the South ".SO where will I get the recipe next thing ???
I do not rely on googling /trial and error versions when trying traditional sweets n savories.. It got be a full proof recipe... Called up my Granny... , ran a general pre diwali conversation... Told her that I made 40 of Maaladu's ... SHe was over whelmed and immediately shouted all over the house to inform my grandpa ... about this... I m still their pampered lil Grand-daughter who would stumble at the entrance of the door as a 1 year old gal..
Then asked my Patty , " I m looking to make Thathai . Is it easy or difficult ? " She immediately told .. ."You can make it!" Just checked if I have all the ingredients at home before I plan for it.

My Terms n Conditions in the making :
Thatai being quite a traditional recipe , I prefered not to do any short cuts or use my own expertised ideas into it... Just followed my patty's directions as she described to me. Cup measurement I have used here is a small sized steel glass that I use for my Lil V . That was the smallest measurement I could think .You could accordingly increase the chilli powder to suit your taste depending upon the measurement.Use Curry Leaves Sticks to pierce small holes around. We need a plastic surface for patting the thatai. You could use milk sachets or Ziplock bag like I did.

DIRECTIONS:

Heat a medium sized pan and I dry roasted 1 cup of Urd Dal and 1 cup of Pottukadalai until they slightly change colour. Roughly 3-4 minutes. Once they cool grind the Urd Dal and Pottu kadalai separately to obtain a fine powder. I realised after grinding the quantity of powder was about 11/4 cup each. So accordingly increased the Rice Flour amount .

Make a stiff dough by mixing together all the flours, chilli powder , about 3/4th spoon of salt , asfoetida and sufficient water. Add warm coconut oil , chopped curry leaves and knead the dough again . Make sure to cover the dough after every use. Rice flour can get dry.I have used a Wet Kitchen towel to keep the dough moist.

Heat oil in a large pan in low to medium flame. In the mean while , I used a ziplock for the plastic surface for making the round thatai shape. Before we begin the process , remember to oil the plastic surface and palm of our hands. Take a small ball and pat it flat as thin as possibe on the surface of the ziplock with ur palm. Make holes using the curry leaves stick at equidistant points around the thatai.. Alternatively you could use a skewer.. But I enjoyed using the curry leaves stick..and was amazed at the natural gadgets people would think to use in olden times...

Check if the oil is heated in the meanwhile by dropping piece of the dough and if it comes up by touching the bottom immediately , mean its ready for frying. Remember oil should not fume at any point of time.

Carefully drop the thatai into the oil from the plastic surface by transferring it to your oiled hands and then to the oil . Turn it a couple of times with a spatula... . Once the thatai turns a little darker than light brown color , drain them onto the kitchen towel... Color of the thatai darkens after taking them off from the oil .

Repeat the process with the rest of the dough.. I added 2-3 thatai's at a time for frying . This measurement roughly yielded 30 Nos.

VERDICT from MY CRITIC:
H enjoyed it thoroughly and his joy knew no bounds... looking at Thatai.... "Flavours are just perfect " was the second sentence he told me.

glad you had a great diwali, love ur first pic and Thatai looks fantastic Sandhya, can understand proud moment of your granny, how sweet. Parents and grand parents feel the best on earth for all the little we achieve in life, that's the beauty!

@Radhika @ foodfor7stagesThanks Radhika...I was surprised when a friend of mine told me tat she could not get thatai's perfectly... after multiple tries...She was stunned to hear me get right at the first go!